Environmental Justice in the Heartland

Environmental Justice Week: April 22-28, 2016

A Series of Independent Events Focusing on Environmental Justice

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.

Join the NAACP Kansas City Missouri Chapter, the Missouri Sierra Club, and Sustainable Sanctuary Coalition for a celebration of environmental justice. Kendra Glover from the NAACP will present on the Coal Blooded Report and local panelists will follow up with comments and questions about environmental justice in Kansas City! Learn how you can make a difference!

From the Coal Blooded Report:

"Nearly six million Americans live within three miles of a coal power plant. As noted below, coal power plants tend to be disproportionately located in low-income communities and communities of color:

People who live within three miles of a coal power plant have an average per capita income of $18,400, which is lower than the U.S. average of $21,587.

Among those living within three miles of a coal power plant, 39 percent are people of color — a figure that is higher than the 36 percent proportion of people of color in the total U.S. population.

Coal plants that have been built within urban areas in the U.S. tend overwhelmingly to be located in communities of color.

The climate is changing. Both climate mitigation and climate adaptation efforts are underway. As we live in an increasingly globalized society, ensuring inclusivity of all populations in sustainability-focused efforts becomes even more important. We cannot let social justice, or the equity leg of the sustainability stool, collapse.

"Climate change is driving innovation in policy and technology around two core imperatives. The first, climate mitigation, involves curbing greenhouse gas emissions to avoid catastrophic climate change. The second, climate adaptation, anticipates climate impacts and aims to strengthen the capacity for resilience in our communities, infrastructure, and environment. These dual aims intersect at the local level in the context of distributed renewable energy, energy efficiency, and microgrid development – key components of the low-carbon energy transition underway in the United States."